1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an anvil member incorporating a staple formation recognition system for use with a surgical stapling instrument. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to an anvil member having a series of electrical traces positioned within staple forming pockets of the anvil member which detect the correct or incorrect formation of legs of a surgical staple within the staple forming pockets.
2. Background of Related Art
During various surgical procedures it is necessary to staple tissue with a surgical stapling instrument or surgical stapler to connect tissue sections or close off ends of tubular tissue sections permanently or temporarily to prevent leakage or prior to reconnection with other tissues. Tissue to be stapled is clamped between a staple containing cartridge and an anvil member of the surgical stapler. Thereafter, the surgical staples are ejected from the staple containing cartridge and into the anvil member where they are crimped within staple crimping pockets formed in an underside of the anvil member.
Occasionally, staples may encounter bone or other tough tissues where they become deformed prior to crimping. Tissue penetrating legs of the staples may become bent prior to entering the staple pockets or may become deflected or skewed aside resulting in improper or incomplete staple formation. This may lead to inadvertent tissue separation or, in the case of tubular tissue sections, leakage contaminating the operative site. Additionally, it is common to follow the staples as they are being crimped through tissue with a knife blade to sever apart the stapled tissue sections. If the knife blade passes through a poorly formed staple line in the tissue, similar problems may occur.
Therefore, it is desirable to incorporate a staple formation recognition system into the anvil member of a surgical stapler. It is further desirable to incorporate a staple formation recognition system that can analyze the formation of the individual legs of the surgical staple separately. It is still further desirable to provide a staple formation recognition system that can track the progress of an individual staple leg as it passes through a staple pocket. It is yet still further desirable to incorporate a knife blade position indication system to track the progress of the knife blade relative to a staple line being formed.